Buffalo Bulls Swimming and Diving Squads Sweep Niagara

It's been a bit for UB Swimming and Diving, but this afternoon the Bulls picked up right where they left off: With a pair of dominating wins over a local rivals.

Buffalo's lone competition in December was a dual meet against Canisius. Despite being scheduled for mid-morning on the final day before vacation, UB did not lose an event and took second nearly across the board, as well. Back in the pool today less that 48 hours after returning from a Winter Session training trip, the Bulls matched that performance against Niagara.

One enjoys the benefits of small sample size but isn't wrong in pointing out that UB hasn't lost an event since November. When there are so many wins to speak of, I would just highlight the season-best and top-ten all time times before the multiple winners, but in addition to the long break and substandard competition, UB mixed up the lineups today and there's only one entry into the Top Ten lists, from the diving platform.

We did this to Canisius, too

Back in December, UB won every race in a dual over Canisius. Add in today's sweep of the Purple Eagles, and the Bulls haven't lost so much as an event since November.

So just the multiple winners:

Women: won 147.5 - 88.5

Saoirse Palu-Benson: Part of 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay

Sharne Tiller: 200 Medley Relay, 200 Individual Medley.

It's worth pointing out that Sharne is a midseason addition to the team. I look forward to doing some more research on her background. Two wins isn't the worst way to start your UB career :-)

Rachael Bertini: 200 Medley Relay, 100 Fly

Kenzie Moss: 1-meter dive -  273.90 is **5th best all time at UB***

Spencer Rodriguez: 100 Free, 200 Free Relay

Men: won 140.5 - 81.5

Oliver Patrouch: 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free, 200 Free Relay

Hudson Carroll: 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay

Itai De La Vega: 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay

Scott Huang: 1000 Free, 200 IM

I felt bad for the short writeup, so I took a look at the top times in the MAC this season to see how UB stacks up. Understanding (1) that no times mean anything until the MAC Championships (unless they're NCAA Qualifying Cuts), and (2) that UB hasn't had a meaningful race since a snow-shortened weekend in November, here's a snapshot of UB's standing within the MAC.

If the MAC Championships held to the top times and were run today, the men would probably finish in fourth or fifth. There are plenty of guys in line for podium finishes, but MAC affiliate members Missouri State and SIU-Carbondale have a ton of podium contenders, and Miami and EMU are strong in multiple events as well.

Right now, Bitara in a few events, De La Vega, Huang, Patrouch, and Barry in a few more would be contenders to win a conference championship. I expect everyone to start putting up faster times with regular competition in the spring semester.

The women have better top-end quality but actually slightly fewer names on the lists. That said, very few of the Buffalo entries are even from the end of November, and many date back to October. There's not a doubt in my mind that in a month UB's season-bests will look a lot different.

The Bulls will compete more in the next three weeks than they have in the last two months. First up is a road dual against Miami next Friday that will be an intriguing measuring stick for both squads with less than two months to the conference championship meets.

Go Bulls!